Ideas for home/life automation please?

[Oneweekoff]

I have one week off and am determined to sort my life out to make it easier! I’ve got a robot hoover, and an Alexa already but sure I don’t use them to their full potential because I am pretty useless with tech, actually I’m like a 5 year old. I do meal subscriptions, am getting a cleaner, and don’t have a garden. What do you have/use that makes your life easier? One thing I am desperate to do is sort it so all my lamps, then Christmas lights etc come on automatically-how do I do this?

You sound organised already!

Timer plugs are available in most shops and you simply set the time and plug in the item and it will come on for you. You can also do this with Alexas so you could for example control with a command. You'd need a smart plug for this and to then set it up on your phone via app.

How do you currently record appointments/shifts/plans etc? You say you're not very techy but setting up a calendar on your phone could be helpful as you have all the info at a glance.

Perhaps focus on the parts of the day that could do with some work or are tricky for whatever reason and then plan some ideas? For example, I have two young kids so our school mornings are pretty manic and last term I kept dropping them off a bit late as we couldn't get out of the door on time. After thinking through the mornings, I'm planning to implement some strategies to hopefully help the morning run smoother.

we have a paper family Callander that is our go-to, but DH and I both have work calendars and I’d love a way to sync it all but can’t see how that would work tho I have looked at Skylight.
I batch cook and have a slow cooker that I use for grab bags but was thinking more what things can be automated as in I set up once and then it’s done?
i too have young kids so anything to save mornings would be good-though no more packed lunches come September which I am pleased about!
Any other tech ideas?

Nearly all our lights work through Alexa. Some have smart plugs, but others have smart bulbs. You can use Alexa to set automatic on and off times, or just do it through your phone. We use Alexa as our alarm clock. We use it to communicate through the house. We use it as a timer or to set reminders so, in your case, you could use it to wake the children up, to remind them to get up, as a timer for brushing their teeth, to remind them to take their PE kit, as a ten minute warning of leaving the house etc.

We also use it to make shopping lists. Some things I buy regularly from Amazon and I have set up subscriptions for those so I don't even have to think about ordering them.

Calendar-wise, I am sure there are some excellent, shareable, electronic calendars out there. If we got our acts together we would probably put everything into a shared Outlook calendar of simp!e share our individual Outlook calendars with each other. In practice though we just use the calendars on our phones and I make DH tell me when he has any appointments etc., then I tell him mine and make him put them in his calendar.

We have online banking and set up as many payments as possible to come out automatically.

We use the Todoist app - you can quickly jot down anything you need to do, it will give you daily lists and also schedule tasks for the future and schedule repeating tasks. Saves trying to remember everything.

Have you looked into smol for household cleaning stuff? I have subscriptions for cleaning spray, laundry etc. Easy to manage and don’t have to remember to buy them

As well as/instead of meal subscriptions I have used shopping lists for online shopping so e.g. every week you can just go in and select the list and you'll get milk, butter, bread etc etc without having to select them all individually. I found them quite good when I reliably wanted similar things each week.

Annual calendar reminders to do things like compare travel insurance, book MOTs etc.

Great stuff! I do use Alexa for my shopping lists and the eldest kids know to add stuff on there but I’ve never tried online food shopping as I quite enjoy the peace of an early morning shop or late night browse. But, I can see how that would free up a couple hours a week. I visit a butchers so could ask about delivery too.
love the idea of Alexa timers for the kids-how do I preset them? I use it for timers for cooking already but want to preset it so it’s done each day?
not looked at smol either but will do!
I am looking ally smart bulbs now-any recommendations? I’ve quite a few lamps!